Grays in the blocks and setting strips in a quilt date-inscribed 1897.

This had to be a hot look in 1897.

Another hot look was Asian-influenced prints characterized by figures such as carnations and grasses, images one might see in Japanese design. Sets were tossed and figures were far apart, giving a distinctive airiness to prints of the 1880-1910 years.

The figures were spaced so far apart in this black ground print that

they hardly made it into the patchwork.

Tillie McCoy's name is in the house quilt above, dated 1897.

That wheat or grass print was one of the novel

fashions of the time. Indigos were important for an Asian look.

Grasses in indigo and browns.

Two graceful prints cut a little too small to show off their best features.

We often just get a glimpse of these Japanese-inspired prints in patchwork.

Eleanor & Franklin Roosevelt, about 1908.

Notice the wallpaper--- birds in grasses---

very Japanese-inspired.

Calico ditsies and Asian-inspired design in a vintage block.

Becky found a great Asian-style print for this repro star.

Detail of a charm quilt top with several tossed, widely spaced figures along the top row.

The blue-gray polka dot fabric has a lace border print. (See the last post.)

The unknown maker picked prints in novel styles

and colors, probably in the 1880s

Another detail showing two colorways of one of these widely spaced designs.

The unusual figure is rings of beads, another minor fad in the 1880s and '90s.

And then there were prints that were just strange.

Reproductions

Here's a repro block Shawn stitched when we were doing California Golds.

These black and gray reproductions seem plentiful right now---

Good time to buy a bunch of fat quarters and make a box that

says BLACKS 1890-1920

Vintage Shirting and Dress Prints by Barbara J. Eikmeier

Several excellent blacks among the shirtings, blues and claret-colored reds.

Reproduction star by Bettina Havig

Kathy Schmitz has several in her current Sturbridge line.

Betsy Chutchian's Eliza's Indigo, scheduledfor October delivery,

includes a nice variety from black through gray to white.

Judie Rothermel periodically does a collection from the 1890-1920 period.

Mourning Grays by Carrie Quinn

mixes lovely purples with black and gray prints.

Asian-influenced prints are more difficult to find.

One of my favorite lines was called

Leaving the Century. which Terry Thompson and I did for

Moda in 1999.

Our theme: Asian-style prints

imitating fabrics from 1899.

The background in Becky's repro star is from that line.

Roseanne Smith, Leaving the Century, 1999-2015

Roseanne just got her quilt back from quilter Lori Kukuk.

Lots of blacks and Japanese-style florals in that collection.

Three repros from Nancy Gere.

What to Do With Your Stack of Stars?

Sash them with Cornerstones.

Quilt from the last quarter of the 19th century

Stella Rubin's Shop.

This seems like a go-to set for us today.

Set blocks on the straight with sashing separating them.

At the intersections put a contrasting cornerstone square.

The cornerstone is almost as large as the center square here.

Maggie Potter's design for the Lands End collection:

a contemporary quilt with a similar set.

Vintage quilt, about 1900

But setting blocks in a straight grid parallel to the edges

was not the obvious choice before 1880 or so.

This antique is set with a claret-red polka dot.

An Amish quilt (?) with the cornerstones as large as the star's center square

You don't see much of this set until after 1870.

Amish quilt of solid colors,

probably mid-20th century

Quilt dated 1864.

Earlier quilters were more likely to use a diagonal set.

If you are looking for a set typical of the 1880-1920 period consider a horizontal/vertical grid of sashing (wide or narrow) with contrasting squares in the corners.

Linsey quilt (coarse wool/cotton fabrics)

Linsey quilts are hard to date as the fabrics could have

been woven in 1810 or 1890---at home or in a factory.

In this case the sashing and cornerstones are almost as large as the block.

End of the 19th century.

Proportions: sash as wide as the star's center

One More Thing About Black Cottons

Rotten black in a 1930s quilt

Black dyes were notorious for their unreliability. Even after discoveries of analine dyes that inexpensively colored cotton a good black, serious problems remained.

Some blacks damaged the fabric so much that it shredded.

One culprit was (and is) sulfur black.

But there were other unreliable chemical mixtures. Crookes in his 1874 dye manual shows a scrap of that wiggle stripe dyed with "Lucas black [which] finds no favor either with dealers or consumers." He tells us it has "bad properties" but doesn't say what those failures are. Fading or rotting are the likely problems.

"John Tipton Wright was born Jan 22 1837. he enlisted in 51st Ill reg infantry on the 25 of May 1862 & was shot in battle on the 27 of June 1864 at Kenesaw mountain in Georgia.
Cruel War"

Chaplain Lewis Raymond wrote a letter to the Chicago Tribune after the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain listing the casualties in the 51st Illinois, among the Privates "J[ohn T.] Wright."

Nancy refers to her siblings (17 of them) and

children (9):

"I have outlived 15 brothers and sisters & 9 of my own children"

The overall quilt pattern is a log cabin block alternating with plain blocks in which florals and

text are embroidered.

Most of the fabrics are wool or wool combination weaves.

Condition is poor with much fabric loss

but the embroidered details are still vivid.

Her second child George (1817-1852) is

remembered with a dog (or a cow?)

The quilt is on exhibit through January 3, 2016.

Nancy tells us a lot about herself but other records are hard to find. She was born in Washington County, Kentucky, on November 20, 1797, about five years after Kentucky became the 15th state. John Adams had recently been inaugurated as the second President of the United States. The national capitol was still in Philadelphia.

At 18 she married Jonathan Wright after the War of 1812. They had twelve children between 1816 and 1841. The youngest was Jacob, born in Owen County, Indiana (near Bloomington). By the time of the Civil War the family had gone west again. Three of her boys enlisted in Illinois regiments out of Lincoln, Illinois.

A rosy view of Lincoln, Illinois in Logan County

"Lycurgus G Wright was born August 23 1836

he enlisted in the 11 Ill cav in the Federal army

he was shot Feb 16 1865 in Tenn

oh this war"

Official records indicate Lycurgus was accidentally shot and killed in Hernando M [Mississippi].

"Jacob S. Wright was born June 11, 1841 & enlisted in the

Federal army April 61 for 3 months

then he enlisted sep 1861 & was in the War till 1865

he got home and married Lou Council Dec 28 1865 he is alive ??"

(or that might say 77, the year of the quilt)

After the war Jacob and Lou settled in Springfield, Illinois.

Nancy's daughter, another Nancy Jane Wright was born January 30, 1825. She married Hiram Tolliver. Her grave is in Rooks County, Kansas, where she died May 5, 1905.

Nancy Wright Tolliver's grave in the Survey Cemetery

One more item about Nancy's husband Jonathan: He is mentioned in a county biography of his daughter-in-law Lou Council Wright.

"[Jacob's] father was a soldier in the war of 1812; was wounded in the head during an engagement with the Indians, and but for the interposition of Tecumseh would have been killed. He was made prisoner, taken to Sandusky, and retained there until exchanged."

Perhaps Jonathan Wright (1783-1851) was at the Siege of Fort Meigs on the Maumee in Ohio with one of the Kentucky militia who fought the British and Tecumseh's troops in May, 1813